Dior reaches out-of-court settlement with Indian brand after being accused of plagiarising its designs

International luxury brand Dior has reached an out-of-court settlement with Indian designer Orijit Sen, whose studio had accused it of plagiarising one of their block print designs. Sen, who is the co-founder of People Tree, an Indian design studio, announced the “amicable settlement” in a Facebook post. He also revealed that his company has signed a non-disclosure agreement that prevents it from revealing any other details about the settlement.

Sen had accused and slammed the French brand for stealing his designs in a Facebook post on 23 January, 2018. The allegation was made after Sonam Kapoor wore the plagiarised designs on the cover of Elle India’s January issue. In an earlier interaction with _Firstpost_ , the designer had revealed that he had created the design 18 years ago for People Tree. “We started People Tree in 1990. From the mid-90s, we have been working with a small community of natural dye and block printing artisans in a village called Kaladera in Rajasthan. It’s been over 20 years since we’ve been working with them, and in the process, we have created a wide range of original block print designs which we use to make t-shirts and fabrics. This is just one of the many designs we have created,” he added. Although Sen and his studio are barred from divulging any details of the transaction between them and Dior, he informed his followers that People Tree will soon be setting up a properly equipped studio. The brand also plans to get more collaborative, inviting artisans to their studio in process.